Your tenant is behind on the rent and you want a straight answer to two questions: how far behind do they have to be before you can use the mandatory arrears ground, and can they escape it by paying a bit back at the last minute? Ground 8 answers both, and the timing is the part landlords most often get wrong.
What Ground 8 is, and why landlords reach for it
Ground 8 is a mandatory ground for possession under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. "Mandatory" is the important word. If the arrears meet the threshold at the two moments the law tests them, the judge has no discretion: possession must be granted. Compare that with the discretionary grounds, where a judge weighs whether it is reasonable to evict.
Because it is mandatory, Ground 8 is the strongest arrears ground you have. It is also the easiest to lose on a technicality, which is why the threshold and the timing matter more than anything else.
How much arrears you need
The threshold depends on how the rent is payable. Since the tenancy reforms under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 commenced on 1 May 2026, the bar is higher than it used to be.
| How rent is paid | Arrears needed at service and at hearing (from 1 May 2026) |
|---|---|
| Weekly or fortnightly | At least 13 weeks' rent unpaid |
| Monthly | At least 3 months' rent unpaid |
Before 1 May 2026 the figures were lower: eight weeks for weekly or fortnightly rent, and two months for monthly rent. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 27 October 2025), which you can read on legislation.gov.uk, raised the monthly threshold to three months and doubled the notice period on Ground 8 from two weeks to four. If you are serving now, use the three-month figure and give four weeks' notice. Always confirm the current position before you serve, because these thresholds and notice periods are exactly the sort of detail that gets adjusted.
Quarterly and yearly tenancies are treated slightly differently. If that is you, take advice on the exact figure.
When the arrears are tested: two dates, not one
This is the detail that decides most Ground 8 cases. The arrears must meet the threshold:
- on the date you serve the Section 8 notice, and
- on the date of the court hearing.
Both. It is not enough to be three months down when you serve the notice. The tenant must still be at or above the threshold when the judge looks at the rent account on the day of the hearing. That gap, often two to three months between serving notice and getting a hearing date, is exactly where a mandatory case can quietly collapse.
Why a part-payment before the hearing can defeat Ground 8
Because the second test happens at the hearing, a tenant only has to get the balance below the threshold by a single pound to knock out the mandatory ground. They do not have to clear the debt. They just have to drop under the line on the right day.
Worked example
Say the rent is £1,000 a month, payable monthly.
- The threshold is three months' rent, so £3,000.
- When you serve the Section 8 notice the account is £3,200 in arrears. The threshold is met, so far so good.
- You give four weeks' notice, then apply to the court. A hearing is listed ten weeks later.
- The day before the hearing the tenant pays £300. The balance is now £2,900.
At the hearing the arrears are £2,900, below the £3,000 threshold. Ground 8 fails as a mandatory ground, even though the tenant still owes you the best part of three months' rent. The judge cannot make a mandatory order on Ground 8.
It can cut the other way too. If rent falls due again between service and hearing and the tenant pays nothing, the arrears climb and the case only gets stronger.
Your fallback: Grounds 10 and 11
A collapsed Ground 8 does not mean you walk away empty-handed. Serve Grounds 10 and 11 on the same notice as a matter of routine:
- Ground 10 covers rent that is unpaid when the notice is served and when proceedings begin, with no minimum amount.
- Ground 11 covers persistent delay in paying rent, even if little or nothing is owed on the hearing day.
Both are discretionary. The judge decides whether it is reasonable to grant possession, taking in the tenant's payment history, the reason for the arrears and their conduct. You are far less certain of an outright order, and the judge may instead make a suspended order that lets the tenant stay while they pay down the debt at, say, an extra £50 a month. But pleading 10 and 11 alongside Ground 8 means a last-minute payment does not leave you with nothing.
One more trap: the arrears must be lawfully due
Ground 8 only counts rent that is genuinely owed. If the tenant has a valid claim against you, most commonly for disrepair, they may be entitled to set that off against the rent. A successful set-off reduces the net arrears, and if it drags the balance below the threshold, the mandatory ground fails again. Keep your repairs record clean and your rent statement accurate.
Practical checklist
- Keep a running rent statement you can produce as evidence, dated and reconciled to your bank.
- Confirm the current threshold and notice period before you serve; the rules changed on 1 May 2026.
- Serve Grounds 8, 10 and 11 together, not Ground 8 alone.
- Recheck the balance the day before the hearing so you are not caught out by a payment.
- If the arrears are benefit-related, or the tenant raises disrepair, get proper advice early.
Ground 8 is powerful precisely because it is mandatory, but that power depends entirely on the numbers holding up on two separate days. Treat the hearing date, not the service date, as the one that really counts.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change, so check gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk for the current position before you act.
